Pixel P&L: Gaming Entertainment League with Celebrity Owners Secures $10M in Funding

Celebrity-backed gaming venture GGL has secured $10M to launch an entertainment league featuring star-owned teams competing in Las Vegas arena. Today’s Pixel P&L unpacks all the details of the league, the effect Trump’s tariffs are having on the gaming hardware industry, Lokesh Suji’s reelection as a vice president, and more.

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Celebrity-Owned Gaming League Secures $10M in Funding

Global Gaming League (GGL), an entertainment venture merging gaming with celebrity culture, has secured $10 million in funding to launch its innovative competition format featuring celebrity-owned teams.

Founded by Grammy-nominated producer Clinton Sparks alongside music artist T-Pain and tech executive Jeff Hoffman (co-founder of Priceline and UBid), GGL positions itself as a gaming entertainment league rather than traditional esports. Sparks, who previously co-owned esports organization XSET, brings industry experience to this new venture.

The platform will showcase four-player teams owned by celebrities competing across various game genres in a purpose-built Las Vegas arena. The league distinguishes itself through a 50-50 ownership model with celebrity partners, handling all operational aspects while celebrities enjoy the prestige of team ownership without management responsibilities.

Initial team owners include T-Pain, TikTok content creator Bryce Hall, legendary professional wrestler Ric Flair, and hip-hop pioneer Flavor Flav, with additional celebrity partners to be announced in the coming weeks. Solyco Capital led the funding round as GGL establishes its headquarters near Las Vegas airport.

Gaming Hardware Also Take a Hit as Trump Tariffs Take Effect

Razer has reportedly halted U.S. pre-orders for its new Blade gaming laptops following implementation of President Trump's tariffs on Chinese and Taiwanese imports. The duties, 32% for Taiwan and 104% for China, are disrupting supply chains across the gaming hardware industry.

Framework has similarly paused American sales, while memory chip maker Micron is also reportedly raising prices on select products. Similarly, Nintendo has also delayed Switch 2 pre-orders amid the uncertainty. Manufacturers now face difficult decisions between absorbing substantial cost increases or passing them to consumers. 

Industry representatives warn these measures could significantly impact hardware availability. The Entertainment Software Association, representing major gaming companies, has expressed concerns about "detrimental impact on the video game industry."

While some lawmakers argue the tariffs will encourage domestic production, industry analysts note the substantial time and cost required to establish new manufacturing facilities would likely result in higher consumer prices regardless.

⚡Quick Bytes

MTG's Strategy Games Surge 25.5% as Word Games Maintain Top Position

Modern Times Group's word games division narrowly maintained its position as the company's top revenue generator in 2024, according to the gaming company's annual report released last week. The word games segment, led by PlaySimple's Word Trip and Crossword Jam titles, generated SEK 2,359 million ($234 million), essentially flat from 2023. Strategy and simulation games showed the strongest performance, with revenue surging 25.5% to SEK 2,226 million ($221.3 million), primarily driven by the success of Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus.

Astro Bot Sweeps BAFTA Games Awards 2025 With 5 Wins

Astro Bot captured five BAFTA Games Awards, including Best Game, Animation, Audio Achievement, Family and Game Design. The PlayStation 5 exclusive continued its awards season momentum after previously winning Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024. Fellow PlayStation title Helldivers 2 earned two awards, while indie psychological horror Still Wakes the Deep claimed three honors.

⚔️Side Quest

📺 Watch: Get a rare behind-the-scenes look at game development as veteran director Glenn Schofield answers fan questions on horror, engines, design, and more in this insightful Q&A with WIRED.

🎮 Play: If you're craving a challenging soulslike with fast-paced combat, deep build variety, and brutal dodge-or-die mechanics, AI Limit is a stylish and rewarding ride—just don’t expect it to outshine the genre's top dogs.

📖 Read: A behind-the-scenes look at an ambitious failed collaboration between Pokémon Go creator Niantic and immersive theater company Punchdrunk that aimed to blend real-world gameplay with theatrical experiences

💡Did You Know

Did you know Nintendo patented a "Sanity System for Video Games" in 2005? The system tracked a character's mental state, which deteriorated when facing horrific creatures or situations. As sanity decreased, the game would create unsettling fourth-wall breaking effects: false doors appearing and disappearing, statues that watched players when not looking, walls that bled or stretched, shadows that moved independently, and even the game pretending to malfunction. The patent stated these hallucinations would "affect the storyline" and ensure "the same game can be played differently each time." This innovative mechanic aimed to enhance horror gameplay through psychological manipulation.

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